Chapter Sixteen

Music hummed in his veins as images from the last couple of days flashed behind his eyelids. Kennedy… Christ. He hadn’t been lying when he said she was different. He’d had a lot of sex, a lot of one-night stands since making it big—and let’s face it, even before that. But never had he been with someone who still left him wanting after one taste. Or ten. No one whose draw was strong enough to make him want to work at it, to see if maybe there was more than slaking a thirst involved.

Kennedy hadn’t slaked anything; she’d ignited a fire he didn’t know if he’d ever be free of, sub or not.

He groaned, the memory of her plump pink lips wrapped around his cock sending a shaft of arousal straight to his balls. For a second that night, he’d thought he would embarrass himself like a kid in the back seat of his parents’ car with a girl for the very first time. But he hadn’t been about to rush through the experience of pushing into her tight mouth, feeling her tongue trace the vein underneath his shaft, letting her throat cup his head over and over until he thought for sure he’d go out of his mind.

He wanted to do it again, every single second of it. She’d slept over at the penthouse again last night, but after a late rehearsal for him and late work for her, there’d only been time for fast and mind-blowing. Tonight he wanted to savor her.

“Boss?”

Isaac shot a look at Nick over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

Nick’s gaze dropped to the guitar Isaac cradled, the laptop open on the table in front of him. “You’re writing.”

A grin slipped out. “Yeah.”

Another definite plus from his time with Kennedy. The music was returning—slowly, but there. He was adding to the song he’d begun working on in the rehearsal a few days ago with the band. Then he hadn’t been able to expand on what his subconscious mind had revealed, but today… Well, Kennedy seemed to have lit a stick of dynamite beneath his block and blown it all to smithereens.

She’d made more than one thing blow the past couple of days.

Nick took a seat in the armchair next to the couch as Isaac played through the last few bars he’d written. “It’s good.”

Isaac agreed. And the sheer relief of having something this powerful running through his mind couldn’t be described.

He set his guitar beside him on the couch. “It’s for the new album, I think. The only thing I’ve got so far,” he admitted hesitantly.

Nick nodded. “But not the last thing.”

Isaac rolled his eyes. “I was beginning to think there wouldn’t be a new album.”

“Naw. I never worried about that.” Nick relaxed into the cushions, throwing an arm across the back of the chair. “A block happens every once in a while; I’ve worked with enough artists to know it’s just a matter of figuring out what’s going on and working your way through it.” He shot Isaac a knowing look. “With Kennedy here, your nightmares have stopped. That in and of itself is a good sign.”

“That she’s here or that the nightmares have faded?”

Nick snorted. “She’s good for you, man. And bonus!” The jazz hands came out, making Isaac laugh. “She doesn’t seem to mind putting up with your kinky ass.”

She sure as hell doesn’t. Even if she was wary sometimes. They were still feeling their way through each encounter, every day, figuring out where her boundaries were, what she liked, but there was no rush. If he had any say in it, he’d be spending a good bit of his hiatus in the city.

“She’s more than good for me,” he agreed. “She’s…something special.”

“All it takes is seeing the way you go all smoldery when she’s around to know that.”

“Smoldery?” Isaac shot his friend a look. “Your vagina’s showing, mate.”

Nick laughed—and flipped his middle finger in Isaac’s direction. Before either of them could take the conversation further, Nick’s cell rang, the one they used for business. He dug it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and a worried frown settled on his face. “Grace.”

Isaac reached for the phone, and Nick passed it over reluctantly. Isaac had long suspected that his friend had a little crush on Grace, though the two had never met in person. More than once he’d seen Nick chatting before passing one of Grace’s calls to him. He’d definitely need to start keeping an eye on that—she was practically his little sister, after all.

Glancing down, he tapped the Answer button, then stood to walk toward the balcony doors. “How you doing, love?”

“Isaac?”

The trace of tears was clear in her voice, making his gut tighten. “Yeah. I was with Nick. What’s got you upset?”

A pause came through the line, and he pictured Grace’s delicate features red from tears. Whatever had happened, he was fully prepared to beat the shit out of whoever had upset his friend.

“Chris just called with the news. He’s officially backing out of the benefit.”

A string of curses left his lips. What the fuck was the bastard thinking? He had to know Isaac wouldn’t take this without a word.

When he finally got himself calmed down, it was to the realization that the trace of tears in Grace’s voice had become flat-out sobs. Then he cursed himself. She’d worked herself to the bone for this benefit, and all he’d done was add to her stress. “I’m sorry, love. Look, it’s going to be okay. I’ve already got some feelers out; I’ll keep looking for—”

“No!” Grace sucked in a couple of deep breaths, the wheezing sounds making him flinch. “I’m done with this, Isaac; do you hear me? I’m done carrying this alone. It’s been five years! You’re the only family I have left, and I need you, not just thousands of miles away where you can’t be anything more than a voice on the damn phone, but here.

“You’re not gonna keep looking for someone else when the perfect performer is staring back at you in the mirror. You know it, and it’s time you stopped playing the coward and lived up to the responsibility. You are the artist I need, and you better start making plans to be here.”

He stood in stunned silence, his gaze locked on the desert in the distance.

“I’ll e-mail you all the details you’ve probably ignored thinking you were going to get out of supporting me again this year. Be looking for it. I expect to hear back from you in the next day or two with travel plans so I can start advertising. Again.”

Click.

Isaac pulled the phone from his ear to stare at the blank screen. “She hung up on me.”

He sensed Nick’s approach despite the man’s soundless walk. “She’s not little Grace anymore, Isaac.”

How the hell would Nick know that?

“She’s been carrying this a long time. Now, with the anniversary…”

Isaac jerked around to face his friend. “What about the anniversary?” Five years; he knew that better than anyone except Grace. It tore him up inside every time the number rang in his head.

Five years. Christ.

Nick’s gaze met his. “She needs you there. And…” His mouth thinned into a tight line. “Goddamn it, Isaac, she deserves it.”

What the hell? “I—”

Nick didn’t give him time to finish. He held out a hand, nodding toward the phone. The instant Isaac laid it in his palm, Nick walked out on him.

The afternoon was spent in silence, and not only because his best friend refused to speak to him. Every time he picked up his guitar, he put it back down again, unable to settle, to get back to the place where he’d been this morning. Happy. Focused on Kennedy. All he could think about was the sound of Grace’s tears and the scenes from his nightmares, pulling him under, drowning his peace. By seven, when he was supposed to pick Kennedy up, agitation clawed at him and all he wanted was his woman beside him, under him, drowning him in something far more beautiful than the cold killer sea.

The soft glow of her desk lamp shone into the hall as he approached her open office door. He leaned against the doorjamb and soaked in the view—the thick red hair gathered in a messy bun at her nape, the vee between her eyes as she studied a paper in her hand, but most of all, the calm he could actually feel radiating off her every time he was near.

Well, not every time. Nothing shattered Kennedy’s calm like sex. The thought sent a spasm of need through him.

He rapped his knuckles against the door.

Kennedy swiveled in her chair, her eyes going all soft and happy as she caught sight of him—then hot and dark as her gaze raked his body. His woman was getting wet just looking at him.

He straightened before the effect of that look became too obvious. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” she said.

He stepped inside. “Still working?”

“Just finishing up.” As he stopped beside her, she dropped her head back onto the headrest to stare up at him. “How was your day?”

He really didn’t want to talk about his day. Instead he leaned over her, the position emphasizing how small she was compared to him, almost delicate, and he couldn’t seem to stop the swell of his pride or his cock. Just short of meeting her lips, he paused. “Are there rules about kissing in the office?”

“Corporate rules or my rules?” She flashed a saucy grin. “You’re the rule maker, right?”

Damn right. “In that case…” Warm, full lips opened beneath his, accepted his thrust. Their tongues dueled. Feeling her, tasting her, Isaac let the stress of the afternoon trickle away. He didn’t stop until Kennedy laughingly gave him a push.

“I need to breathe,” she teased.

“Hmm.” He traced her bottom lip with his thumb and couldn’t miss the shiver of pleasure that shook her in her seat. “I guess I’ll have to save the rest for later.”

Kennedy raised an eyebrow. “Promise?”

“That and more,” he said, arching his eyebrows suggestively.

She looked so happy as she closed up her office, as if she needed to be with him as much as he needed to be with her. He waited as she locked the door, then escorted her to her apartment, Nick trailing behind. His friend still wasn’t speaking to him, his glower as Isaac told him they’d be right out like an arrow to the heart.

It shouldn’t be. He’d worked hard to keep himself separate, to not rely on anyone but himself to be there when he woke up every morning. Nick had blown that all to hell over the years, and part of him hated his friend for that. Hated knowing there was someone else he could lose.

And then there was Kennedy.

“Plans?” she asked, toeing off her heels and breathing a sigh of relief as her feet flattened onto the floor.

“Actually, yeah. Got anything to eat?”

She scoffed. “Really? We’ve been having sex for a few days and already you expect me to feed you?”

He winked, unashamed. “Sooner we eat, the sooner we get to the good stuff.”

They had sandwiches, quick ones. Isaac cleaned up while Kennedy went to grab the swimsuit he’d ordered her to bring. He definitely had plans for tonight, special plans that he refused to let the past few hours derail. The mix of inquiry and excitement in her eyes as they left the apartment sparked his own anticipation, especially when he thought about her in whatever suit she’d brought along. He loved the water, and he couldn’t wait to have her in it.

When the elevator doors opened to reveal the heavy wood entrance to Sovereign’s spa, Kennedy turned to eye Isaac warily.

He squeezed her hand. “Come on; you’re gonna love this.”

“The spa is closed this time of night,” she reminded him as he pulled her toward the entrance.

“Uh-huh.”

Ignoring her sputtering, he gave the door a sharp rap. Though they were a few minutes late, the door swung open. Kennedy’s friend Teri peered around the heavy wood, eyes wide with excitement. The woman had helped him plan tonight, giddy when she’d realized who he was treating.

“There y’all are!”

“Teri, what is going on?” Kennedy asked.

Teri gestured them inside. “Just a little something you’re gonna love, girlfriend. Mr. Anschau has rented out the spa for the night.”

“But…wha—”

Isaac laid a gentle finger on Kennedy’s mouth, savoring the moment. He had a feeling he wouldn’t often be able to surprise this woman. “Ken.”

“What?” she mumbled against his finger.

“Hush and enjoy, yeah?”

She narrowed her eyes. “This is a control thing, isn’t it?”

That something inside him that needed just that, that wanted to bend her to his will, reared its head. Isaac bent down to her slowly, taking his time, watching her eyes go wide and then hot as she moved from surprise to worry to hunger. She took a deep breath, and he knew his scent was filling her lungs, taking her over until there wasn’t a single molecule in her body that wasn’t full of him. The kiss he finally granted her wiped away anything but him, for them both—by the time he drew back, she was clinging to his arms and he’d barely remembered their audience enough to not start stripping her clothes.

Leaning his forehead against hers, he basked in the pleasure in her eyes as he tried to catch his breath. “This is a new lover thing,” he finally told her.

She nodded, struggling to slow her own breathing. It hitched into a laugh when Teri gave a low, impressed whistle.

Leaving their friends behind, he pulled Kennedy down the hall and gave her a gentle push into the women’s dressing room. “Meet me at the pool.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “You don’t want to come in?”

“Love…” He chuckled, aware of the strain in the sound and in his groin. “If I see you naked right now, we won’t make it to the pool. Join me there.”

Her gaze dropped to the floor at his command, her unconscious submission swelling his chest, but it was the pleasure in her eyes, the knowledge that he wanted her so much he was close to losing control, that did him in. Kennedy deserved to be cherished, nurtured—and she was allowing him to do that. The thought put a lump in his throat and a boulder of responsibility on his shoulders as he hurried toward the men’s room to change.